New Delhi: Police on Friday arrested three men, including a dismissed Punjab Police assistant sub-inspector (ASI), for allegedly posing as gangsters, threatening a businessman for months, and firing outside his house to extort ₹10 crore, police said.
According to police, the three had been threatening Sahil Luthra, founder of defence technology firm Vijayan Trishul Defence Solutions, since August 2025 by posing as members of the Goldy Brar gang and the Babbar Khalsa militant group.
Police identified the suspects as Gurpinder Singh, 32, Shamsher Singh, 35, and ASI Jaswant Singh, 59. Police said Jaswant was dismissed from service in 2006, and oversaw the company’s operations in Punjab. Gurpinder Singh works as a gym trainer, while Shamsher handles his family’s photography business.
Sahil has an office on New Delhi’s Barakhamba Road and his company works with government agencies on defence solutions.
Police said that in November last year, Gurpinder and Shamsher were also involved in firing outside Sahil’s house in Amritsar.
HT reported in January this year that the Delhi Police Commissioner directed a Special Cell probe into the threats after CCTV footage of the firing surfaced online.
“In May 2025, the suspects also tried to hack into the organisation’s official email IDs and social media handles. Later, Sahil received calls from numbers in Portugal and Germany in August and September. In June this year, he again received threats on WhatsApp,” said a police officer.
The case was transferred to the Crime Branch on June 10 and an investigation was launched, police said.
Special commissioner of police (Crime) HGS Dhaliwal said police analysed the WhatsApp calls and digital evidence.
Investigators said they probed the Amritsar firing and launched surveillance on the suspects. They were identified as residents of Punjab’s Tarn Taran and arrested in a police raid on Friday.
During interrogation, Gurpinder and Shamsher disclosed that they threatened Sahil at Jaswant’s instance. Further investigation revealed that earlier extortion calls and messages were allegedly orchestratedby a person named Manni, operating from Spain using the alleged WhatsApp number, in connivance with Jaswant.
Further investigation to uncover the conspiracy and identify others involved is ongoing,” said Dhaliwal.
Police officers said Jaswant had wanted to extort Sahil for a long time. “He roped in his friends from Punjab and even overseas, and hatched a plan to threaten the businessman,” said an officer.
